Crucial, a leading global brand of memory and storage upgrades, today announced the availability of a new offering in its solid state drive product portfolio: BX300. It combines Micron 3D NAND with a value-conscious design to deliver the features DIY upgraders and builders are looking for. The new SSD includes 3D MLC NAND in a 2.5-inch form factor drive, and is available in 120GB, 240GB, and 480GB capacities.

Upgrading from a traditional hard drive to a solid state drive has never been easier. The Crucial Advisor tool helps users determine a compatible upgrade based on their system's manufacturer, make, and model. Supporting the BX300 is Crucial's mobile-friendly install guide so users of all technical ability levels are armed with the straightforward, step-by-step information they need to successfully install an SSD. Data migration is also simplified with free access to Acronis True Image HD software.

The Alphacool HDX-5 is a combination of a RAID controller card and a massive cooler. It has two slots for M.2 SATA SSDs and two additional SATA slots, allowing you to set up a RAID 0 or 1 group. The PCI-Express 3.0 x4 card also provides a bandwidth of up to 3900 MB/s.

The new generation of HDX coolers from Alphacool is getting another addition. The HDX-5 is not just a cooler, but also lets you run a RAID 0 or 1 group. It boasts two M.2 SATA SSD slots and two classic SATA slots. The combination possibilities are considerable, since you can set up a RAID group over one M.2 SATA SSD and one normal SATA drive, or connect just the M.2 slots to form a RAID group. That leaves the classic SATA slots free to be used for normal connections.

Samsung Electronics America, Inc. today announced the introduction of the Samsung Portable SSD T5 - the newest portable solid state drive (PSSD) that raises the bar for the performance of external memory products. The T5, built with Samsung's latest 64-layer V-NAND technology, delivers industry-leading transfer speeds with encrypted data security in a compact and durable design, making it easier than ever for consumers to access their most valuable data anywhere, at any time.

"Samsung has been pushing the envelope of what is possible in portable storage and solid state drives for years, and the Portable SSD T5 continues our legacy of leadership and innovation," said Un-Soo Kim, Senior Vice President of Brand Product Marketing, Memory Business at Samsung Electronics. "We are confident that the T5 will exceed consumers' expectations for external storage by offering faster speeds and a solid design that is lightweight and conveniently pocket-sized. It is the ideal portable storage product for consumers and professionals who are in search of a fast, durable and secure device."

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high performance DRAM modules and NAND Flash products, today launched the XPG SX9000, its fastest consumer SSD yet. The SX9000 caters to gamers and PC overclockers. It arrives in an M.2 2280 form factor and uses the PCIe3x4 interface to deliver up to 2800MB/s read and 1450 MB/s write. ADATA has selected a new Marvell controller to ensure consistently optimized performance, while in-house ADATA manufacturing, assembly, and quality control result in up to a 1000TB terabytes/total bytes written (TBW) rating. The SX9000 uses MLC NAND Flash and ships in 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1 TB capacities.

The SX9000 goes even beyond the XPG SX8000 thanks to balanced ADATA design and the integration of a new Marvell controller. It reaches 2800MB/s read and 1450 MB/s write, leveraging the PCI Express Gen 3x4 interface and the NVMe 1.2 protocol. A compact M.2 2280 drive, the SX9000 also manages 310K/140K IOPS random 4K read/write. For fast boot, reduced cross-drive transfer times, shorter game loads, and quicker in-game asset delivery, the SX9000 offers an excellent foundation.

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of highperformance DRAM modules and NAND Flash products,today launched the industrial-grade IM2S3338 M.2 2280 and IM2S3334 M.2 2242 SATA 6Gbps solid state drives. Both utilize the compact M.2 form factor for an easy fit in various installations and transfer data at up to 560MB/s read and 525MB/s write. They use durable and long-lasting 3D NAND, MLC/TLC for the IM2S3334 and TLC on the IM2S3338. The two drives are carefully tested for survivability in extreme temperatures and humidity as well as resistance to shocks and vibration. ADATA integrates LDPC error correction to promote data integrity plus DRAM and SLC caching to help sustain peak performance on both model ranges.

ADATA continues to place an emphasis on serving industrial and commercial applications such as manufacturing, surveillance, retail, transportation, and medical care. The IM2S3338 and IM2S3334 provide additional options, this time in the M.2 form factor. The IM2S3338 uses 3D TLC in capacities from 128GB to 1TB. It delivers 560MB/s read and 520MB/s write. The IM2S3334 carries highly durable 3D MLC NAND in 120GB to 512GB, and 3D TLC in 128GB to 512GB, and runs at up to 560 MB/s read and 525 MB/s write. Users therefore get a comprehensive range of models to choose from based on required capacity and planned budget.

At its Flash Memory Summit booth, Samsung revealed plans to launch new consumer-segment SSDs which succeed its current 960 EVO and 960 Pro series. Over 2017-18, the company is expected to launch the new 970 series and 980 series NVMe SSDs. Tom's Hardware predicts that Samsung could dispose of the "EVO" and "Pro" brand extensions to a static model number (such as 960 or 950). Samsung could tap into its current 3-bit per cell (TLC) 64-layer 3D V-NAND flash memory for the 970 and 980 series. With the company busy capacity-building for 4-bit per cell (QLC), the new SSD lines may not feature it, although Samsung is capable of surprising with aggressive launch cycles. As drives supporting the NVMe protocol, the 970 and 980 series could ship in modern form-factors, such as M.2 and U.2.

Kingston Digital, Inc., the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced over 6 million SSD units between the Kingston and HyperX lines have shipped worldwide featuring Marvell controllers. The feat was accomplished in just over two years as the HyperX Predator PCIe SSD in February 2015 was the company's first SSD to ship utilizing a Marvell controller. Marvell's 88SS9293 controller provides lightning fast, next generation SSD performance making HyperX Predator PCIe SSD a must have for system-builders and enthusiasts.

Wanting to offer users of all levels the benefits of high performance from an SSD, Kingston released UV400, powered by Marvell's 88SS1074 four-channel controller in May of 2016. As the product family evolves later this year, Kingston will launch the UV500 series, its first 3D NAND-enabled SSD utilizing Marvell's newest 88SS1074 full turnkey (FTK) solution. UV500 will be available in 2.5", M.2 and mSATA form factors providing solutions for any consumer and system builder SSD needs. It is designed for mainstream client use but also has 256-bit AES encryption and TCG Opal 2.0 enabled for enterprise users as well.

Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU) today introduced Micron 9200 Series of NVMe SSDs, the company's latest flagship performance solid-state storage family. The innovative architecture and industry leading performance of Micron 9200 SSDs allows organizations to access data faster and stay one step ahead of the growing diversity of business-critical workloads and surging data demands.

The new Micron 9200 SSD combines the cost-effective capacity of 3D NAND with the proven throughput and response time of the NVM Express (NVMe) protocol. Built from the ground up to remove legacy layers of hard drive interfaces, Micron's second generation of NVMe drives unleashes the speed of solid state nonvolatile memory to maximize data center efficiency for optimal total cost of ownership (TCO).

Toshiba Memory Corporation, the world leader in memory solutions, today announced the launch of the SG6 series, a new line-up of SATA client SSDs utilizing Toshiba Memory Corporation's cutting-edge 64-layer, 3-bit-per-cell (TLC) BiCS FLASH. Sample shipments to PC OEM customers start today in limited quantities, and Toshiba Memory Corporation will gradually increase shipments from the fourth calendar quarter of this year.

The new SG6 series SSDs features a SATA Revision 3.3, 6.0Gbit/s interface, and delivers performance of up to 550MB/s sequential read and 535MB/s sequential write. Thanks to improved flash memory management and performance, active power consumption is cut by approximately 40% compared to previous generation products. This improvement can extend battery life, a plus for many applications including mobile computing.

Today, Intel announces major data center storage advances, reiterating Intel's memory technology leadership. The new technologies advance data center storage and deliver innovative solutions to meet the challenges presented by the growing reliance on data. They include:

• "Ruler" form factor for Intel SSDs, an all-new solid state drive form factor enabling up to 1PB of storage in a 1U server rack in the future.
• The world's most advanced dual port portfolio: Intel Optane technology dual port SSDs and Intel 3D NAND dual port SSDs for mission-critical applications.
• An updated SATA family of SSDs for data center, targeted at HDD replacement.

"We are in the midst of an era of major data center transformation, driven by Intel. These new "ruler" form factor SSDs and dual port SSDs are the latest in a long line of innovations we've brought to market to make storing and accessing data easier and faster, while delivering more value to customers," said Bill Leszinske, Intel vice president, Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group (NSG), and director, strategic planning, marketing and business development. "Data drives everything we do - from financial decisions to virtual reality gaming, and from autonomous driving to machine learning - and Intel storage innovations like these ensure incredibly quick, reliable access to that data."

Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC), a committed technology leader, today unveiled the development of two new flagship enterprise solid state drive (SSD) solutions, the TMC PM5 12 Gbit/s SAS series and the CM5 NVM Express (NVMe) series. Development is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter. Both product lines are built with TMC's latest 64 layer, 3-bit-per-cell enterprise-class TLC (triple-level cell) BiCS FLASH2, making it possible for today's demanding storage environments to expand the use of flash with cost-optimized 3D flash memory. With all-new, advanced features, the innovative CM5 and PM5 series raise the bar in performance capabilities and create new opportunities for businesses to leverage the power of flash storage.

Offering up to 30.72TB in a 2.5-inch form factor, the TMC PM5 series introduces a full range of endurance and capacity SAS SSDs enabling data centers to effectively address big data demands while streamlining storage deployments. With the industry's first MultiLink SAS architecture, the PM5 series is able to deliver the fastest performance the market has seen from a SAS-based SSD with up to 3,350 MB/s of sequential read and 2,720 MB/s of sequential write6 in MultiLink mode and up to 400,000 random read IOPS in narrow or MultiLink mode. The PM5 series' 4-port MultiLink design is an additional technology to achieve high performance, close to PCI EXPRESS (PCIe)8 SSDs, enabling legacy infrastructures to increase productivity without having to be re-architected from the ground up. Furthermore, PM5 SSDs support multi-stream write technology, a feature that intelligently manages and groups data types to minimize write amplification and minimize garbage collection, translating into reduced latency, improved endurance, increased performance and Quality of Service (QoS).

There are two kinds of desktop CPU platforms. The mainstream tier runs from two cores up to eight, and it's great for gaming and general use. Its high-end sibling takes everything up a level with more cores, more memory channels, and more bandwidth for graphics and storage. A considerable upgrade in every regard, this high-end desktop platform appeals to power users, content creators, and prosumers who want to blur the line between desktop and workstation. AMD's Threadripper CPU is the latest addition to the desktop's heavyweight division, and it walks into the ring with an entourage of SocketTR4 motherboards in tow. This guide explains the ASUS and ROG family to help you pick the best X399 motherboard for your high-end desktop or gaming PC.

All of our X399 boards share core DNA that includes one-touch overclocking, refined cooling control, and improved RGB lighting. Yet they each have their own distinct flavor as well. The ROG Zenith Extreme brings Threadripper into the world of premium dream PCs with provisions for custom liquid cooling and 10G networking. With the Strix X399-E Gaming, hardcore gamers can build stylish rigs with power to spare for high-quality streaming. And then there's the Prime X399-A and its well-rounded foundation channeling the professional side of the platform's prodigious power. Which X399 motherboard should you buy for your build? Let's find out.

Toshiba's first retail SSDs to use the company's 64-layer BiCS3 3D NAND technology have been announced by Toshiba. The successors to the company's Trion 100 and Trion 150 SSDs still carry some vestiges of OCZ branding in the product logo and TR (short for Trion) moniker. This is Toshiba's first generation of mainstream, mass-market-suitable 3D NAND flash.

These drives make use of a DRAM-less controller design, and will be available in capacities ranging from 240 GB up to 960 GB. Toshiba advertises 550 MB/s read and 525 MB/s write speeds. 4K Random Read IOPS stand at 87K, while 4K Random Write IOPS go up to 87K. The endurance on the models will range from 60 to 240 TB according to capacity, and these carry the same three-year warranty as previous Trion SSDs. Pricing has not yet been announced, although the TR200 series will start shipping to retailers this fall.

PNY Technologies considered one of the worldwide leaders in consumer electronics market and flash memory products, is proud to announce the launch of the new CS1311b solid state drives. Targeting the sweet spot of price against performance, the CS1311b SSDs are 20 times faster than traditional hard drives, promising an affordable solution to boost your PC performance without breaking the bank.

The 2.5-inch form factor SSDs weighing only 35gms and having dimensions of 100 mm (L) x 70 mm (W) x 7 mm (H), can be installed in not only almost every notebook computer and Ultrabook, but even in regular desktop PCs, thus supporting an easy performance upgrade in a very wide range of computers. The absence of moving parts not only guarantees the safety of your data against mechanical shocks, but it also means cool and quiet operation. The very low power consumption easily translates into better battery life for notebook and Ultrabook computers.

After developing the compact, very successful Alphacool HDX M.2 SSD cooler, Alphacool is now expanding its product range with the Eisblock HDX-2 and HDX-3 coolers. Both coolers come with a 4x PCIe card, on which the cooler and SSD are mounted. This has many advantages over mounting directly to the motherboard.

Cooling can be difficult on a motherboard due to space constraints and the location of the graphics card, which is often mounted directly above or beside the motherboard. A PCIe card and cooler give you lots of room to set up a good cooling solution. But why do you need to cool your M.2 SSD? When an M.2 SSD is used continuously and for substantial data transfers, it can heat up so strongly that the drive slows itself down and decreases its performance significantly. This can happen after even a few seconds. The only way to solve this problem is with a good cooling solution.

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of highperformance DRAM modules and NAND Flash products,today launched industrial-grade ISSS314 solid state drives in 3D MLC and 3D TLC versions. All models can withstand a wide temperature range, extreme shocks and vibrations, as well as humidity to meet the needs of industrial users. Using hardened and carefully sorted components, ISSS314 SSDs consume just 2.5W to lower operating costs while providing speedy 560 MB/s read and 520 MB/s write. They are offered in 3D MLC and 3D TLC NAND plus capacities ranging from 32GB to 512 GB in order to better cover and serve as many budgets and needs as possible.

The increased durability and power efficiency of stacked NAND Flash compared to older planar NAND offers very appealing advantages in applications that require non-stop and long term use. The ISSS314 range has an MTBF of 2 million hours, which is 25% more than comparable 2D NAND drives. At the same time, they consume just 2.5W per drive while reaching 512 GB in capacity. Modest power draw translates into major electricity savings over the life of the drive, especially in large installations where many units are needed. Across the range, ISSS314 drives reach 560 MB/s read and 520 MB/s write.

Colorful today rolled out a trio of budget SSD lines. These include the CN600 series, the CN500 series, and the SL500 series. The CN600 series is built in the M.2-2280 form-factor with PCI-Express 3.0 x2 wiring, and is characterized by a heatspreader over the controller and NAND flash chips; the CN500 is also built in the M.2-2280 form-factor, but features SATA 6 Gbps wiring; whereas the SL500 is a conventional 7 mm-thick 2.5-inch drive with SATA 6 Gbps interface. All three drives are available in 240 GB capacities.

The CN600 series drives combine a Realtek RTS5760 controller with TLC NAND flash memory, and offers sequential transfer speeds of up to 800 MB/s, with up to 700 MB/s writes, and up to 50,000 IOPS random reads, with up to 100,000 IOPS random writes. The CN500 series drives, on the other hand, pair a Silicon Motion SM2246EN controller with MLC NAND flash, offering up to 530 MB/s reads, with up to 250 MB/s writes, and up to 70,000 IOPS random reads, with up to 60,000 IOPS random writes. Lastly, there's the SL500 series, which combine Silicon Motion SM2256 controllers with TLC NAND flash, serving up 530 MB/s reads, with up to 450 MB/s writes, and up to 80,000 IOPS random access. The company didn't reveal pricing or availability information.

PNY Technologies (PNY) considered one of the worldwide leaders in consumer electronics market and flash memory products, has introduce PNY CS1311 2.5 " SATA III SSD, the consumer-level solid state drives and the ideal replacement for users looking to upgrade from their normal HDD drive to their very first SSD without burning a hole in their wallet. The CS1311 drive is designed for an easy and cost-effective HDD replacement in the existing PC system to help realize faster boot times, quicker application launches and better overall system performance.

The CS1311 operates 20 times faster than traditional HDD drives and offers a combination of features well-suited for your desktops or laptops. Powered with TLC NAND Technologies, PNY CS1311 is a 7 mm 2.5" form factor SATA 6 Gb/s SSD and is available in four capacities ranging from 120 GB to a massive space of 960 GB. It delivers read and write speed up to 550 MB/s to 520 MB/s and random IOPS read and write of up to 90, 000 IOPS.

Intel today launched its new Intel Xeon Scalable processors, providing businesses with breakthrough performance to handle compute-hungry tasks including real-time analytics, virtualized infrastructure and high-performance computing. Today's launch marks the greatest set of data center and network processor advancements in a decade.

"Data center and network infrastructure is undergoing massive transformations to support emerging use cases like precision medicine, artificial intelligence and agile network services paving the path to 5G," said Navin Shenoy, executive vice president and general manager of the Intel Data Center Group. "Intel Xeon Scalable processors represent the biggest data center advancement in a decade."

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high performance DRAM modules and NAND Flash products, today launched its XPG GAMMIX product series, first shown at Computex 2017. The debut consists of the GAMMIX S10 PCIe3x4 NVMe 1.2 M.2 2280 SSD, capable of 1800 MB/s read and 850MB/s write thanks to premium 3D NAND in up to 1TB capacity. The S10 features a stylish heatsink for expedited heat dissipation. It is joined by GAMMIX D10 DDR4 memory modules, which likewise boast a custom heatshield to ensure lower temperatures and more stable performance. They are offed in black and red colors, and in up to 3000 MHz factory speeds with a starting speed of 2666MHz on new Intel X299 motherboards. The GAMMIX line provides gamers, PC DIY enthusiasts, and overclockers with additional options that combine performance and design, stemming from the core XPG mission statement of ensuring better experiences.

Corsair has quietly added a new SSD to its portfolio which is currently available on Newegg. The new Neutron NX500 SSDs come in somewhat unusual 400 GB and 800 GB capacities, which likely means an overly increased over provisioning so as to ensure top endurance and performance. The Neutron NX500 SSDs come in the add-in NVMe card form factor, with a beefy heatsink to top it all up. That heatsink serves to cool not only the NAND chips, but also the Phison E7 controller that's lurking underneath.

Interestingly, and even though 3D TLC NAND is all the rage these days due to increased density on the same footprint, without bringing any serious, real-world problems related to endurance, as we've seen, the Neutron NX500 appears to pack MLC memory. Do you even remember that? That's part of the reason why performance is rated so high: there's 3,000 MB/s read, 2,400 MB/s writes, 300,000 IOPS in random read, and 270,000 IOPS on random write workloads. Though you will have to pay a pretty penny for this kind of performance: the 400 GB Corsair Neutron NX500 is currently retailing for $319.99, while the 800 GB version won't give you any benefits from the economy of scale: it retails for $699.99.

Toshiba Memory Corporation, the world leader in memory solutions, today announced development of the world's first BiCS FLASH three-dimensional (3D) flash memory utilizing Through Silicon Via (TSV) technology with 3-bit-per-cell (triple-level cell, TLC) technology. Shipments of prototypes for development purposes started in June, and product samples are scheduled for release in the second half of 2017. The prototype of this groundbreaking device will be showcased at the 2017 Flash Memory Summit in Santa Clara, California, United States, from August 7-10.

Devices fabricated with TSV technology have vertical electrodes and vias that pass through silicon dies to provide connections, an architecture that realizes high speed data input and output while reducing power consumption. Real-world performance has been proven previously, with the introduction of Toshiba's 2D NAND Flash memory.

After announcing their intention to begin mass production of their latest 72-Layer 3D NAND Flash back in April, SK Hynix has now confirmed that it has entered mass production of the high density NAND modules. Apparently, SK Hynix has already achieved the much sought-after "golden yield" ratios, where the semiconductor yield is now at such a level that it is advantageous to finally enter mass production. Apparently, SK Hynix's leadership was fearful of not being able to achieve the golden yield in a timely manner after their announcement of the technology only three months ago; however, after its "management team and engineers repeatedly spent nights doing research, yield went up vertically and has become comparable to Samsung Electronics'" own yield - and as you know, Samsung is kind of the golden standard when it comes to NAND technology.

According to industry sources, SK Hynix is already mass-producing SSDs (Solid State Drives) with the company's own controllers and firmware which leverage this new 72-layer 256Gb NAND flash memory. This is a welcome change for the company which should allow it to increase revenue, since this is the first time controllers are developed in-house. The company is also said to be already producing eMMC (embedded Multimedia Card) for mobile devices based on this technology, with supply already arriving to its customers.

Apacer introduced the AS350 Panther solid-state drive, beginning (we hope) with a 120 GB variant. Built in the 7 mm-thick 2.5-inch form-factor with SATA 6 Gb/s interface, the drive features 120 GB of TLC NAND flash memory. It offers sequential transfer rates of up to 440 MB/s reads, with up to 125 MB/s writes, and 4K random access performance of up to 26,000 IOPS. The drive could take up an entry-level price-point, and is backed by a 3-year warranty.

PNY Technologies (PNY) considered one of the worldwide leaders in consumer electronics market and flash memory products, is ready to take on the gaming industry by storm with the launch of the Gaming Series to Asia market. The PNY Gaming Series offers best-in-class PC components to deliver gaming performance ranging from affordable to the most intense for die-hard gamers. Scheduled to be released in the 2nd half of 2017, the product categories will include gaming grade graphics cards, SSDs, and PC memory products that promise to deliver the competitive edge advantage in PC gaming.